Ahead of a return to home territory, performing at Hull’s Social, and with recent single releases ‘Blasphemy’ and ‘Patience’ under his belt, rising singer-songwriter Ellis J Barraclough kindly took some time to talk to Yorkshire Coast Gigs.
Background: Ellis grew up in Hull as part of a family in which music was a constant presence, and was playing guitar at the age of seven and writing songs when he was twelve. His music interests span a huge amount of ground, having also performed with the Ocean Colour Scene live duo and covered artists as varied as The Housemartins, David Bowie and Sade. He’s also a fan of the infinitely more aggressive sounds of Tool, Deftones and Bathory.
Asked firstly how he feels about tonight’s gig, Ellis admits to being a little bit nervous, but working on turning the nerves into excitement. Discussing his musical background, Ellis elaborates: “Well, it’s true, I did grow up in a musical family. Around the time I was a kid, before 10 and a little after 10, everyone in my family were in bands or sort of a well known name on the music scene. So yeah, when I was a kid we always used to go on Boxing Day to my Grandad’s house and all sing along with each other. We just loved music and it obviously left a bit of an imprint on me.”
Growing up near Hull, Ellis relates: “Until I was about 10 or 11 I lived in Hull. But then I moved to Brough, which is a little town just outside of Hull, until about the age of 18. I came to Hull Sesh, Humber Street Sesh, and Trinity Market and things like that. It always just amazes me with how there’s so much stuff going on.”
In fact, Ellis played at Humber Street Sesh last year. He says, “I played here, on this stage. This was the BBC introducing stage. It was one of the best gigs I’ve ever had, funnily enough. It was brilliant.” And he has been working with Vincent Garcia (veteran of Drizabone, the ‘90s soul/acid-jazz band who scored a big hit with ‘Real Love’ and whose remix of Shanice’s ‘I Like Your Smile’ turned the original into an international smash); Ellis tells us of their work together, “It’s been brilliant. He’s my manager and producer, he’s produced everything that I’ve done, so far. I record my own music, but that isn’t the music that gets released. That’s just what I love doing. I send the music I record to Vincent, then we do it properly with session musicians and everything. But yeah, it has been, and will be, amazing.”
It turns out that what was meant to be a full band gig that evening has turned into a solo set due to a hold up on the M1 for the van – and whilst that’s a shame, Ellis is stoic about the situation: “They’re an amazing group of musicians and I was really looking forward to it. But there’s always next time. I’m not less excited to play, I was just more worried about letting people down because of what they might have been expecting. Still, they are going to get a lot of me anyway!”
Ellis has also recently released a new single, Blasphemy; so what is next for him? “Well, I’m constantly going down different routes. Every song I write and every gig I do, I try and look at it in a different way because you’re always doing your best stuff when you’re out of your comfort zone. As for the future, I’m just doing more gigs, writing more good material. Well, what I hope is good material, can’t say for sure just yet. But just cracking on and being a musician.”
Ellis also has an intriguing list of influences, including Deftones and Tool. Whilst Ellis’s music doesn’t necessarily reflect their sound, as a huge fan of Tool, more had to be known – including Ellis’s surprise to meet another Tool fan! He adds, “I was going to get the Lateralus art as a tattoo. Tool I discovered in college and they just blew my mind. Every single album, every B-side; I know and love it all. I think Adam Jones is one of the most underrated – not underrated, but just unknown – guitar players out there. He’s a huge inspiration. I mean I build my rig around his setup. I’ve got a chorus ensemble and it’s just the one that he uses.”
Ellis further notes that he listens to a lot of very different music. “Just such a wide range of music. I listen to heavier stuff, like Tool. For heavier bands I go to the Norwegian side as well quite a lot. When I say Norwegian you know exactly what I’m talking about. But also José González, The Beatles. I just love music. There are some parts in my songs that are inspired by the chord changes in Tool songs or time signature changes. I do try my hardest when programming my drums to do it as well as Danny Carey but I don’t think anyone on the planet could do that, let alone a machine!”
Coming back to Ellis’s early career and music studies, he does admit to a stint at a “plumbing apprenticeship failure” – but that ‘failure’ happily led him back to music, studying music production and performance at Hull College. Asked what advice he might offer to someone else starting out on their pathway in music, he offers, “Use your inspirations as an absolute anchor, as they’re the only things that will help you be original.” He explains that you may not want your music to sound like your favourite artist, of course, but says “If you’re comfortable with the songs you like then don’t underestimate your influences.” And as a final thought, he adds: “Get into Tool. They’re amazing!”
Follow Ellis here: Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube | Instagram
Photos of Ellis J Barraclough (right) being interviewed by Danny Murphy (left) at Social, Hull.
For photos of Ellis in concert, along with support act Sarah Shiels, taken by Heidi Jean, click here.
